American Express, EDS ink deal

EDS has landed a five-year technology services deal to manage desktops, voice and data networks for American Express, reports Network World. The financial terms were undisclosed.

American Express signed the deal with EDS, an HP company, in December 2008 and reported the transaction had been completed without interruption to the company's business operations.

Under the terms of the deal, EDS is managing American Express's user desktop computing environments as well as its global voice and data networks.

AT&T has signed a five-year security outsourcing agreement with Amtrak, says SecurityInfoWatch.

Under the contract, AT&T will provide a package of telecommunications networking services, including managed security services, to help protect Amtrak's telecommunications network infrastructure. Amtrak will also use AT&T voice services, including long distance, audio and Web conferencing.

AT&T claims it will implement and manage Amtrak's wireless local area network and enhanced virtual private network to help connect more than 400 locations and converge multiple networks to a single, global network platform.

President Umar Musa Yar'adua has said Nigeria's GDP will increase by 30% and the economy will be improved if the country fully embraces the outsourcing business, states AllAfrica.com.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the first National Outsourcing Conference organised by the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, Yar'adua said the benefits of outsourcing to Nigeria are immense, "not just from an economic point of view but also from a socio-economic standpoint.

"We must utilise every opportunity to strive for not just quantitative growth, but also qualitative transformation that is measurable in the living conditions of our people," said Yar'adua.